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User blog:Brady26/In a Darker Light
The group returns to Grostere where they find the city preparing for the celebration of Dawnriven, as they carry with them the Dragons' demands, they find new offers waiting for them as they enter a different city than the one they remember. Clashing with fiends and desecrated grounds beneath the holy city, the group find clues to some dark plots at work. Keeping Things Light Returning to Grostere via Elia's teleportation spell, the group split up in the city; Kadmos going to Gurdrak to inform him of the meeting, and the rest going to the Cathedral to inform the King of their encounter. As they walked through the city they saw decorations going up for the festival of Dawnriven, a cross faith celebration between the worshippers of Pelor and those of Moradin. Beneath the bunting and the banners they saw food lines forming as clerics from the Church of Truth gathered the power of the rising sun to conjure food for the hungry masses of people in the city, Crusaders keeping order between those native to the urban centre and those from the rural communities. At the Cathedral they found that a service was taking place by the Patre Evech of the Heart, Cercim Crond, the man tasked with ecumenical and monitoring the faith of the lay folk. After the service Darion approached the Patre Evech as he walked among the assembly granting blessings to the sick or infirm. After talking with him Darion agreed to take part in the Dawnriven celebration and bring cakes and treats to the poor of the Prince Bidan Quarter of the city, a poor district now crammed with refugees from outside the city. In the waters beyond the city, one of the great floating fortresses of Okarthel was lingering on the horizon, a fleet of Grostere vessels placed between it and the city. The Dragon Tale Finding the King of Grostere at the service, the group went with him to the gazebo where those standing inside could not be heard by those outside. The group relayed what had happened during the meeting, the concerns the dragons had, their demands as well as the ending of the meeting when the dragons left. The King agreed to get an apology signed, though not everyone would be happy about it, he also suggested the group speak to the dwarves personally about he request Elia had made. As they went to leave, the King called back Rack to inform him that he had received further information from the Dragon Lands regarding the demand to see Rack. It appeared that he was being accused of murder of a member of a Great House and members of the Great Houses have come to judge him. Claiming to be an expert in the laws of the Dragon Lands, Rack thanked the King and left with the group informing them of this development. Encroaching Dawn Once again the group split up each having their own goals to accomplish whilst they waited for Dawnriven to pass and the next Council session would take place. Kadmos remained with the Unbidden in the Cathedral, being briefed on some of their efforts around Etan as well as their preparations for the upcoming meeting. Lukas began to practice his swordsmanship with some of the Crusaders in the Cathedral and managed to impress them with his skills. He then travelled to the docks where he found a blacksmiths and he began to work on forging a new weapon for Rack to replace the one he had thrown away the other day. At night Lukas returned to the Dirty Habit where he drank and chatted with Lusir Savauge who asked whether he had considered a life in service to faith, and Lukas expressed his concerns about the changes in the city since he visited it as a child. Later Lukas tried to make some friends in the inn but found tensions to be a bit high among the people there, choosing to go to bed rather than risking stirring up a brawl. Rack travelled around the city, taking note of the best routes to take should he wish to escape the city in hurry, finding a safehouse that he rested in. Choosing to keep the place a secret even from his allies, he set about disguising his appearance as best he could with the equipment he had at hand. Taking some time to reflect and hone his skills, should the summons to appear before an assembly of Okarthel lead to a conflict. Darion travelled to Prince Bidan Quarter, hoping to make some friends in the region before he went about it during Dawnriven. Sitting in a tavern, The Fallen Hero, he sat down and kept a look out for men similar to those he had encountered in Drenden, young and rowdy. As he sat drinking, a halfling man approached him, greeting him with the familiar voice of Jamna Gleamsilver. The gnome woman and the half-ogre man shared some information between them. Jamna revealed that the tavern was owned by the Small Ring, and that they were keeping watch over them, though now their agents kept their distance after one was attacked in Drenden. She also revealed some of the quirks and beliefs of the dwarven ambassadors, how they could be reasoned with, or even blackmailed should he desire it. Darion revealed that they had given away the mask to someone they had promised it to long ago, but refused to say Talis' name nor the association with the Cult of the Dragon she had. Later he visited a bakery owned by a halfling man named Yeastfellow, who he sought to learn the recipes to the wonderful bread that he baked. Though he found the magically made bread difficult to replicate, Darion thoroughly enjoyed his time and sought to compensate the owner, feeling concern where they revealed that the New Truth's distrust of magic has led to many of his more devote customers abandoning him. Assembling to in a side-chapel devoted to Saint Cuthbert, he of Common Sense, the group broke down how they would go about tackling the dwarven ambassadors, assigning tasks to one another. Darion deciding to offer the Menrek smbassador, Marla Purecoin, the ale he had gotten from Silveridge, they would wait if Khez arrived to perhaps help them with the Stracaralome ambassador, Urdur Tallstack, and Lukas took the advice of Darion, to be direct with the Thoruum ambassador, Brawnanvil. They decided that they would speak to them during Dawnriven when they would be watching the firework display. Darkness Beneath As Dawnriven arrived Darion, along with Lukas, took cakes and pastries from the Cathedral to the Prince Bidan Quarter, with Kadmos tagging along to watch the festival. Rack, having not told the others where he was, began to wander the streets during the busy festival trying to find them, doing his best to find the half-ogre but getting distracted by the costumes and effigies on sticks being paraded around. Handing out pastries to the needy of Bidan Quarter, Darion drawing as a many people to him as he could to share in the spirit of the holy day. As he handed out one of his last pastries, an old woman approached him, praising him for his efforts but warning him against giving food to a home at the end of the street, which she claimed held dark spirits that thrashed in the night. Upon hearing this, Darion conversed with Lukas and Kadmos, all of them agreeing to investigate the building. Approaching the triangular shaped building, Lukas gave some gold to a small gang of children to go search for Rack who was still wandering the parade, soon arriving as the group circled the building performing various rituals and spells to detect the presence of evil or magical enchantments, which they did. Picking the lock, the group opened the door to the maintenance chamber revealing a room with a sewer cover in the centre. Taking the lead Darion stepped inside, seeking out hostile creatures that he could sense in the darkness as well as desecrated corruption spreading forth from the sewer. As he stepped closer to the corruption, tendrils of shadow lashed out at him and voices started shouting at each other in his mind. Stepping after him Kadmos conjured forth a stream of light and revealed three hiding fiends in the corners of each room that the group engaged, managing to cut down the flying creatures. As each entered further into the chamber, the tendrils of shadow each attempted to strike at them, with only Kadmos being unaffected by the lingering entities as his eye flared with celestial light cutting through the darkness as he did. After defeating the fiend guards, they descended into the sewers below the street, Darion able to follow the corruption through his connection to the divine powers of his gods. Reaching a grate, the group found that the desecrated ground was strongest in part of the catacomb sewer that was connected to the tunnel they travelled through. In this hand dug tunnel they saw a chamber beyond blocked by a portcullis covering in leering faces and infernal writings, touching the iron bars burned as Darion attempted to lift it, and fiends hiding in the darkness hurled bolts of flame at him as he forced a gap for everyone to fit through. Emerging in the darkened chamber Darion called forth a ball of light to banish the darkness that choked the room, revealing three fiends, two of the lesser variety that had guarded the chamber above and another, far larger creature how spiny bone protrusions stabbed into the ceiling, allowing the beast to keep out of the reach of the group unless they coordinated themselves. In the corner of the room lay a desecrated corpse that spilled out darkness from it's mouth, infernal runes and symbols surrounding on pillows and cushions. Also in the centre of the chamber rolled a ball of stone that created a great wave of water in its wake as it made its way around the sewer tunnels. Leaping back and forth across the chamber, Rack was impaled by the larger fiend's hooked polearm after having been fascinated by jewels and gold that lay at the bottom of the water. Darion and Kadmos paired off the slay the lesser fiends, Darion's protective wards saving Kadmos on several occasions, as Lukas lashed out at the greater fiend, leaping at the spawn of the Hells with his greatsword and slashing it apart. Recovering the body the group searched for any other signs of fiends, Darion noting that the soul of the murdered man was likely fuelling the desecration of the area. Kadmos searched the body, discovering a diary belonging to Nester Bool a Hoffendale aide, likely the dead man before them. Inside he discovered some commentary on the Council, themselves and the events of the conflict with the Cult, turning from personal to stating facts and meetings to repeating the words "She said she loves me" again and again for the rest of the pages. Finding this strange, the group decided to pass this on to the Excori to handle, setting off to the Institute of Truth. Night of Fire Moving through the streets they passed the parade grounds where King Sanctus II was delivering a speech on unity and a future together, drawing a few eyes and gasps as they carried the desecrated corpse through the crowd. Finding Primi Excori Oubert, they brought the body to the chamber where normally Barra was kept, informing the cleric of Pelor of what they had found, the Excori departed with a number of other clerics and Crusaders to investigate. The group then departed to catch the end of the King's speech as well as their chance to speak with the dwarven ambassadors. Reaching the docks where the firework display, marking the end of Dawnriven was to take place, the group approached the three dwarven ambassadors. Darion attempted to lure them into conversation with some of the ale he had gotten from Silveridge, though they seemed unsure of his intent, and it was not until Lukas cut in and state directly why they wished to speak to them did they actually listen. Stating what concessions were required of them plainly, the dwarves reacted as was expected, with Brawnanvil being a vocal no, leaving with Purecoin who began to speak with him in private, with only Tallstack remaining behind to listen to anything else the group had to say, the group leaving him to enjoy the fireworks. Taken Council The next day the group joined the Council, with Lady Nightshade taking a prominent seat at the front, with many of the other members of the Council doing their best to ignore her. Also in the Council was Lord Iragar and Lady Mondral of Okarthel, stating that they wished to task the agents of the Council with a quest, and would speak to them before giving the details to the Council itself. Additionally, Maccath the Crimson was present, stating that she carried a message from her patron, Magistrate Zezzundal, inviting the agents of the Council to discuss a potential alliance with the Magistrates of Zel'bidaal against the Cult of the Dragon. The group also discussed the demands of the Metallic Dragons and the concessions to be made, with many people disagreeing with an alliance with dragons, though once the group negotiated where the dragons would placed to protect, many quietened their naysayers. The dwarves however had disagreed greatly with the decision and no dragon was sent to protect their territories, though Brawnanvil claimed to not want any near his forces, they did however agree to return the hide of the silver dragon slain many years ago to Elia. During the recess the group chatted with Ontharr Frume who expressed his distaste for Lady Nightshade and Maccath the Crimson, both of whom he claimed cavorted with dark powers, fiends and demons to get what they want. Darion began to suspect that the fiends they had fought might have some connection to Lady Nightshade. The group waited on the balcony overlooking the gardens and the sea beyond where the Okarthel floating fortress lingered in the distance. Lady Mondral approached the group as the rest of the Council reconvened, stating that she had knowledge of where the blue dragon mask was being kept. She claimed that her ancestor, the founder of House Mondral, created the traditional worship of Tiamat, being one of the first to study the hidden secrets of the Dragon Queen, but now Severin had corrupted that worship for his own selfish ambitions. One of the first acolytes of this original faith was a wizard named Xonthal, who retreated to a tower in the land that would become Casa, it is there that the cult, under the leadership of Jorgen Pawl, has been studying the powers of the blue dragon mask. She claimed that a member of the cult, still loyal to the old ways, Iskander, reached out to her to warn her of this and she now brings the information to the instruments that have already destroyed some of these heretics. Rack asked her whether she knew of these accusations against him, which she informed him were levelled by Kitral Menidrass for crimes against a Great House of Okarthel. Rack claimed that he would never be tried and that they should tell his accuser not to come, though Lady Mondral respond that they were already there. Maccath the Crimson came to the group afterwards, bearing an invitation to meet her patron and other interested magistrates in forming an agreement with the Noble Alliance. The group wished to know more about why she followed his figure, Maccath showing how they granted her powers, noticing that she was different to how they had left her, she seemed uncomfortable in the environment she was in. She spoke of meeting with the magistrates as soon as they were able, that many had already made deals with the Cult and others were undecided. Her patron however, Zezzundal, was willing to listen to them. She stated however that her master was very patient and was willing to wait as he dealt with other business, but to inform her when they wished to travel to the deserts of Vhir and she will arrange a meeting on behalf of her patron. The group waited on the balcony for the meeting to end, discussing how they might need some assistance with the wizard's tower, Rack and Kadmos lamenting the departure of Barion who knew the most about the arcane. As they spoke of Barion, Darion grew to suspect that the others had knowledge of where Barion was, Lukas doing his best to keep up with what was being spoken of. Rack admitted that Telinor knew where he was, Darion endeavouring to confront Ba'win on the issue as he left the Council. Levelling the accusation, Ba'win seemed unperturbed by the issue, stating that Barion served the Arcane Authority of Telinor and was aiding in the effort against the Cult of the Dragon. When pressed as to when Barion would be brought to justice for his crimes, Ba'win did not seem to understand what Darion meant, the paladin pointing to the deaths of the Ice Hunters at Oyaviggaton and his attempt to escape him. Ba'win stated that he had seen the incident, but declared his fate would be decided by the Arcane Authority, for it Telinor he now served. Darion was left in the corridor as the other delegates filled out of the Council Chambers around him as his companions looked on. Category:Blog posts